DealBook Online

By MARK SCOTT, HIROKO TABUCHI, WILLIAM ALDEN and VINOD SREEHARSHA

Published: September 14, 2012

SEEKING CONTROL The Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, left, initiated a $7.3 billion takeover bid on Thursday for the 70 percent stake in the Singaporean conglomerate Fraser & Neave that he did not already own.

STREAMLINING OPERATIONS Dole Food said it was in advanced talks to sell its packaged foods and Asian fresh fruit businesses to the Japanese trading house Itochu.

Dole, the world's largest fruit and vegetable company, said in a news release on Wednesday that it was negotiating with Itochu over a sale that would be part of a previously announced review of its operations, now based in Westlake Village, Calif. HIROKO TABUCHI

A WARNING ON BANKS It's still the talk of Wall Street: Are big banks too complex? And if so, what should be done?

On Thursday, one former Wall Street executive put the issue in vivid terms as she raised concerns about the complexity of financial behemoths. ''It makes you weep blood out of your eyes,'' Sallie L. Krawcheck, above, who ran Bank of America's wealth management division, said at the Bloomberg Markets 50 Summit in Manhattan. WILLIAM ALDEN

OPPORTUNITIES IN BRAZIL The Carlyle Group said Thursday that it had acquired a 60 percent stake in Tok & Stok, a Brazilian furniture company, in a move that positions it to take advantage of the country's consumer retail market.

The amount Carlyle paid for Tok & Stok was not disclosed, but a source with knowledge of the deal said that it was worth approximately 700 million reais, or $347 million. VINOD SREEHARSHA